Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical devices and procedures. More particularly, the present invention relates to devices and methods for securing soft tissue to a rigid material such as bone. Systems and methods are disclosed herein of fixing tissue such as tendon or ligament to bone in orthopedic procedures.
Description of the Related Art
There are several medical procedures where a surgeon needs to attach soft connective tissue such as tendons or ligaments to bone. One common example is an anterior cruciate ligament (“ACL”) reconstruction, a surgical procedure usually performed for the treatment of a torn ACL. The ACL is one of four major ligaments of the knee. An ACL reconstruction may be performed as an isolated procedure, but is often performed alongside the treatment of meniscus tears and cartilage injuries as part of a multiple-repair surgery.
An ACL reconstruction is a procedure that replaces the injured ACL with a tissue graft generally formed from the patient's patellar tendon or hamstring tendon or the ligament of a cadaver. To perform an ACL reconstruction, a surgical procedure is used, typically requiring the multiple steps of: harvesting and sizing the tissue graft, securing the tissue graft to the end of a pin, removing the existing damaged ACL, drilling a tunnel that creates a bore through the tibial bone and a blind hole in the femoral bone, passing the pin and tissue graft through the bore and into the blind hole, and screwing a first anchor into the blind hole of the femur and a second anchor into the bore of the tibia to capture the tissue graft against the bone and solidly affix the tissue to the bone. Even as an isolated procedure, ACL reconstruction is difficult to perform arthroscopically. Systems recently brought to market still require multiple steps and tools.